Scum and Villainy (FitD)

[pemerton]

It does not. The way it describes action rolls is more “say yes or roll the dice”.

Thanks for the reply/explanation!

(It might also be helpful for the OP.)

 

[Yora]

It does not. The way it describes action rolls is more “say yes or roll the dice”.

You make an action roll when your character does something potentially dangerous or troublesome. The possible results of the action roll depend on your character’s position. There are three positions: controlled, risky, and desperate. If you’re in a controlled position, the possible consequences are less serious. If you’re in a desperate position, the consequences can be severe. If you’re somewhere in between, it’s risky—usually considered the “default” position for most actions.​

​

If there’s no danger or trouble at hand, you don’t make an action roll. You might make a fortune roll or a downtime roll or the GM will simply say yes—and you accomplish your goal.​

Good point.

An action is challenging if there’s an obstacle to the PC’s goal that’s dangerous or troublesome in​

some way. We don’t make an action roll unless the PC is put to the test. If their action is something that we’d expect them to simply accomplish, then we don’t make an action roll.​

​

Completely different question: Is the Loaded for Bear ship special ability the only way to get heavy armor?

 

[MarkB]

Completely different question: Is the Loaded for Bear ship special ability the only way to get heavy armor?

Looks like it, yes.

 

[Yora]

So it's heavy armor for all or no one. Interesting choice, given that heavy armor is just another standard item like normal armor in Blades in the Dark. Unfortunate that there's no indication for the reason for that change.

I got an idea for a campaign start, which is obviously doing it totally wrong. I still think it's a nice idea:

First the players have to make a choice if they want to pursue a career as smugglers, mercenaries, or bounty hunters, so that they don't create characters with personalities that are incompatible with each other. Next the players are being told that they are sitting in small cells in the hold of a bounty hunter ship, heading to the Spice Mines of Kessel or something like that.
They then each make a PC and come up with an idea how they ended up in their current situation. After that, play begins with the first job: Escape.
During this initial job the players can grab any of their characters' items from crates and lockers around the ship. Eventually the ship comes out of hyperspace and arrives at a space station where the players have the option to keep the bounty hunter ship and all the equipment on it (Cerberus) or trade it in for a different ship (Stardancer or Firedrake). Then they do Ship and Crew creation followed by Downtime.
Since they can't go back to whatever people send them to be slaves in some remote corner of the galaxy, they then have to start making a living in this new sector they find themselves in.

What I like about this start is that it goes quicker from character creation to start playing, and the players are given one, two, or three hours to try out the system and finding their feet before having to make choices about customizing their ship.
It also makes the characters new to a setting that the players don't know anything about yet. This is quite a departure from how the writers intended the game to be played, but I still find it useful. The one friend on their character sheet could quite well be the only person each character knows in the sector. The one rival would be someone they knew in the past who also has relocated to the sector in the meantime, and they'll run into again at some point (hopefully soon). I think this should work, but are there any special things to watch out for that I should make special preparations for?

 

[MarkB]

So it's heavy armor for all or no one. Interesting choice, given that heavy armor is just another standard item like normal armor in Blades in the Dark. Unfortunate that there's no indication for the reason for that change.

It's thematic with the material that inspired the setting. Armour in the rules is described as obvious and clunky, and you can assume that heavy armour would be moreso. Think stormtrooper armour or Mandalorian armour. Smugglers and insurgents want to try and blend in, but anyone in armour stands out.

In any case, in terms of being able to reliably mitigate consequences without excessive stress, I'd take the Firedrake's Forged in Fire over the Cerberus's Loaded for Bear any time.

I got an idea for a campaign start, which is obviously doing it totally wrong. I still think it's a nice idea:

First the players have to make a choice if they want to pursue a career as smugglers, mercenaries, or bounty hunters, so that they don't create characters with personalities that are incompatible with each other. Next the players are being told that they are sitting in small cells in the hold of a bounty hunter ship, heading to the Spice Mines of Kessel or something like that.
They then each make a PC and come up with an idea how they ended up in their current situation. After that, play begins with the first job: Escape.
During this initial job the players can grab any of their characters' items from crates and lockers around the ship. Eventually the ship comes out of hyperspace and arrives at a space station where the players have the option to keep the bounty hunter ship and all the equipment on it (Cerberus) or trade it in for a different ship (Stardancer or Firedrake). Then they do Ship and Crew creation followed by Downtime.
Since they can't go back to whatever people send them to be slaves in some remote corner of the galaxy, they then have to start making a living in this new sector they find themselves in.

What I like about this start is that it goes quicker from character creation to start playing, and the players are given one, two, or three hours to try out the system and finding their feet before having to make choices about customizing their ship.
It also makes the characters new to a setting that the players don't know anything about yet. This is quite a departure from how the writers intended the game to be played, but I still find it useful. The one friend on their character sheet could quite well be the only person each character knows in the sector. The one rival would be someone they knew in the past who also has relocated to the sector in the meantime, and they'll run into again at some point (hopefully soon). I think this should work, but are there any special things to watch out for that I should make special preparations for?

Having those starting connections is important. My suggestion would be to run the scenario as you've described it, then have a "six months later" timeskip, with the assumption that they've made their crew and personal contacts during that time, and established at least a small reputation for themselves.

 

[Campbell]

Thanks for the reply/explanation!

(It might also be helpful for the OP.)

The recently released reference sheets for Blades in the Dark are even more explicit about John Harper's intended design. My read is that it is full on say yes or roll the dice and success means you realize your intent (assuming great enough effect).

Deal with a dangerous obstacle by performing a daring action. Say what your character does with one of the actions on your character sheet, along with your goal.

https://bladesinthedark.com/sites/default/files/sheets/blades_core_playsheets.pdf

By the way these sheets are phenomenal to have as play aids at the table.

 

[Yora]

"Don’t call for an action roll simply to resolve a difficult task. To trigger an action​

roll, a scoundrel must face a dangerous obstacle."​

That's really quite explicit.